UN condemns Boko Haram

The UN Security Council hinted at sanctions early Saturday to force the Islamist militant group Boko Haram to release hundreds of school girls kidnapped a month ago in northeastern Nigeria.

The council expressed "profound outrage" at the group's abduction of some 300 girls in mid-April and its threats to sell them into slavery. Attacks by Boko Haram since 2009 had "caused large-scale" loss of life, it added.

The UN condemnation followed the arrival of US and British security experts in Nigeria to advise its government. A campaign by parents in Nigeria has also been joined by US First Lady Michelle Obama and other celebrities on social media labelled BringBackOurGirls.

"In these girls, Barack and I see our own daughters," said Michelle Obama on Saturday in a rare radio address that is usually delivered weekly by the US president.

Michelle Obama said the abducted girls had been determined to sit exams at their school despite threats. What happened in Nigeria was "not an isolated incident."

"It's a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions," she said.

Council hints at sanctions

UN council members said they would "consider appropriate measures" - diplomatic shorthand for sanctions - and also suggested that some acts might end up as "crimes against humanity," possibly before the International Criminal Court.

US ambassador Samantha Power said the council would act quickly to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist group.

"We must hold its murderous leaders to account," Power said, referring to more than 1,500 people killed this year, including 125 people killed when gunmen rampaged on Monday near Nigeria's border with Cameroon.

Abduction preventable

Weakness in Nigeria's armed forces was highlighted on Friday in Amnesty International findings that the military failed to heed warnings before the largest group of school girls was abducted from the town of Chibok on April 15.

"This abduction could have been prevented," said Amnesty spokeswoman Susanna Flood.

The government of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan denies slow responses by the country's security forces. Nigeria's military on Thursday criticized what it called attempts by some civic groups to "drag the military into politics."

Residents of Chibok staged a street protest on Friday to press the regional government of Nigeria's eastern state of Borno to do more to find the missing girls.

Boko Haram, which wants to impose Sharia law on Nigeria, originally kidnapped 276 in April. Fifty-three escaped but 276 remain captive.

Boko Haram millitants are also believed to have bombed a strategic bridge while retreating from a killing spree in the town of Gamboru on Monday.

ipj/tj (dpa, Reuters AP)